More than a quarter of civilians shot by HPD in 5 years had no weapon, and the last officer charged in a shooting was in 2004

By James Pinkerton

Houston police fired their guns at civilians more than 100 times in the last five years, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths, but never in charges against the officers.
About the series

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From 2008 to 2012, officers shot 121 people, 52 of them fatally.

Police say their lives or others were threatened in all those incidents, although more than a quarter of the civilians shot by the Houston Police Department during that time were unarmed. Of the unarmed people shot, 10 died. They include a mentally ill double amputee in a wheelchair and a Navy veteran diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Officers shot unarmed civilians who “reached” or “grabbed” for their waistlines — or held objects such as cellphones or a hairbrush that police mistook for weapons.

Harris County grand juries have cleared HPD officers of criminal wrongdoing in all shootings from 2008 to 2012 that they have reviewed so far, a Houston Chronicle investigation has found.

The last time an HPD officer was charged for a shooting was in March 2004, when Arthur Carbonneau was indicted in the death of 14-year-old Eli Escobar Jr. Carbonneau was convicted of negligent homicide in that case. Since then, Houston police officers have been cleared by Harris County grand juries 288 consecutive times for shootings.

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Very few HPD patrol vehicles, meanwhile, have dashboard cameras, denying officers and the public a proven method of documenting whether or not the use of force is appropriate. Jeff Monk, manager of HPD’s open records unit, said he was not aware of any HPD shooting from 2008 to 2012 that was captured on a dashboard camera.

Nearly 100% cleared

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“There is no requirement that one has to be armed,” for an officer to use deadly force, McClelland said. “If I’m out here in the middle of the street, and I’m fighting for my life and you’re getting the best of me, and I decide to use deadly force to save my life, I have not committed a violation of the law even if you only had a paper clip in your pocket.”

His officers also rarely face discipline internally for shootings.

In the five years of records examined by the Chronicle, investigators with HPD’s internal affairs division reviewed 636 shootings of all types by officers, including shootings of animals and accidental discharges. They ruled that only one shooting was not justified and ordered a supervisor to counsel a patrol officer whose unholstered gun went off as he struggled to detain a suspect in August 2008.

The newspaper’s findings prompted serious questions among community activists and experts about the judgment shown by HPD officers. The number of shootings of unarmed suspects, in particular, alarmed Larry Karson, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown.

“If one-quarter of the people you’re shooting are not truly a danger to the officer, it brings into question the training of the officers,” Karson said. “Are they getting an appropriate amount of training in what is called 'shoot/no-shoot' situations to learn to pay attention to things like cellphones, since we all now carry them?”

Nearly four months after announcing his intentions to run for U.S. Senate, Kentucky tea party Republican Matt Bevin made the paperwork official on Friday.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Bevin submitted the necessary materials to the Secretary of State's office. He then gathered at the state capitol to speak on how he is the real conservative in the race over incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

"All this power and influence that is supposedly is harnessed by our senior senator, he seems to be the only one who is benefiting from this personal power and influence," Bevin said, according to the Courier Journal. "That has to end."

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The Senate Conservatives Fund, a PAC founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), is among Bevin's big-name supporters. The group endorsed him in mid-October as a "true conservative who will fight to stop the massive spending, bailouts, and debt that are destroying our country."

"We know that winning this primary won't be easy," Senate Conservatives Fund Director Matt Hoskins said in a statement. "Mitch McConnell has the support of the entire Washington establishment and he will do anything to hold on to power. But if people in Kentucky and all across the country rise up and demand something better, we're confident Matt Bevin can win this race."

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"Matt Bevin now has the dubious honor of standing with a self-serving D.C. fundraising group that made its name by recruiting and promoting unelectable candidates that ensured Barack Obama a majority in the Senate," said McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore. "They clearly care less about Kentuckians than they do about their reputation for supporting laughably bad candidates."

Former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin apologized Thursday for her criticism of Pope Francis and his "liberal" statements.

"It was not my intention to be critical of Pope Francis," Palin wrote Thursday on her Facebook page. "I was reminding viewers that we need to do our own homework on news subjects, and I hadn't done mine yet on the Pope's recent comments as reported by the media."

She continued, "I apologize for not being clearer in my response, thus opening the door to critical media that does what it does best in ginning up controversy."

During a Tuesday interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Palin said she was taken "aback" by some of the Pope's remarks.

"He's had some statements that to me sound kind of liberal, has taken me aback, has kind of surprised me," Palin said. "Unless I really dig deep into what his messaging is, and do my own homework, I’m not going to just trust what I hear in the media."

See the video and she also slurs Chris Christie being overweight. Worth the click.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, a staunch opponent of Obamacare, says she's lost her insurance under the new law just like millions of other Americans.

Bachmann told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she'll be forced to shop on the health exchange site, but refuses to do so until the glitches are worked out.

Bachmann told Blitzer on "The Situation Room" that her husband has serious health concerns that require quality insurance. Democratic strategist Paul Begala, who was also on the show, told Bachmann she should be thankful that Obama's healthcare law keeps insurance companies from discriminating against preexisting conditions.

Video at site.

"Are you kidding? I’m not going to waste an hour on that thing," the Minnesota Republican said, referring to the continuous technical problems on the HealthCare.gov site.

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Accourding to Politico, Bachmann did not say how she ost the coverage and she didn't say she would sign up for a plan on the insurance exchange site by Dec. 15 to get coverage by Jan. 1.

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The health law technically requires congressional staff to buy insurance through the exchange, but it's up to each congressional office to determine who qualifies as official staff, Politico reported.

Yeah, I know - Newsmax, but at least it was reporting a prior Politico story. I love it, Especially when Paul Begala told her that because of the ACA, Marcus' "pre-existing condition" wouldn't keep him from being covered.

Cult comedy star Andy Kaufman faked his own death in 1984 and is still alive, his brother has claimed.

Kaufman, best known for playing the incompetent Latka Gravas on the 1970s sitcom Taxi, officially died from lung cancer in 1984.

But, appearing at an award show named in Andy's honour, Michael Kaufman said he received a letter from his brother, confirming he was alive, in 1999.

He then introduced a woman who claimed to be Andy's 24-year-old daughter.

Her age would mean she was born five years after his death.

"He just wanted to be a stay-at-home dad, that's why he wanted to leave the showbiz," she explained at the New York event.

"He's pretty much a great dad, and raised us. My mom has her own business... He helps her with that kind of thing, paperwork and stuff, so he can work from home and he doesn't have to be hiding out concealing himself."

"He just makes us food and takes care of the house."

It has since been claimed, however, that the mystery woman is in fact a New York actress whose father is a doctor.

According to website The Smoking Gun, Alexandra Tatarsky was recruited by Michael Kaufman earlier this year to play his alleged niece.
Audience 'freaked out'

The woman's arrival on Monday night had been preceded by a long anecdote, in which Michael described how, many years ago, he discovered an essay in which Andy detailed plans to fake his death.

It was accompanied by a note, saying the comedian would reappear on Christmas Eve 1999, in a specific restaurant.

Although Andy failed to show up, Michael was handed a letter explaining that his brother had gone into hiding to live a normal life, and now had a wife and daughter.
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It was chilling, upsetting and absolutely intriguing”

Killy Dwyer, audience member

In addition to his role on Taxi, Andy Kaufman was an eccentric performance artist who often staged elaborate pranks that entertained, confused and at times frustrated his fans.

He organised wrestling matches between himself and women, impersonated Elvis Presley and, most famously, created a hideous lounge singer alter-ego called Tony Clifton, who reeked of foul-smelling cheese and verbally abused virtually everyone in sight.

Famously, after he played Carnegie Hall, he hired 24 buses and took the 2,800 audience members out for milk and cookies.

A life-long health fanatic, he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 33 and died in May 1984. A copy of his death certificate, which lists the cause of death as renal failure, can be seen online.

Nonetheless, a portion of his fan base has always maintained his death was a hoax.
Still from Man On The Moon Jim Carrey played Kaufman in the 1999 biopic Man On The Moon

Audience members at the Andy Kaufman Awards were uncertain how to take Michael's revelation, wondering if it, too, could be a stunt.

"The entire room was freaked out," wrote comedian Killy Dwyer on her Facebook page.

"I get that it is - could - might all be a hoax... it was as real as anything I've ever seen. There is video. It was chilling, upsetting and absolutely intriguing."

Award show producer Al Parinello told the Hollywood Reporter: "I witnessed the entire thing and I can tell you without a doubt this was not a prank."

"You could see by the look on face that it had an emotional impact on him," said Ed Cavanagh, manager at the Gotham Comedy Club, where the award show took place.

But, he added: "I don't know whether somebody is perpetrating something on or not. I'm truly 50-50 on this one."

Witnesses said the unnamed woman had explained the catalyst for her appearance was the death of her grandfather, Andy's father, in July.

In a video of the encounter, posted on gossip site TMZ, Michael is seen asking whether his brother is "getting close to revealing himself".

The woman covers her face and says, "I don't know what to say."

"I mean, he was really thinking about coming," she adds.

Michael then asks the audience not to follow the woman after she left the building.

"I won't give you her name. I don't even know name," he says. "Let her have her privacy."

Everytime I go to register a car or renew my license or pay taxes it feels like I'm in a line to join the Teabilly Club. And I refuse to remain silent to their gobblygook.

To the guy who last Tuesday insisted on filling out a provisional ballot to vote. It was a pain for you to get it done, but thank-you for doing it whether you canceled my vote or doubled it. Voter ID gotta go.

This video is a call to action released in support of the Stop Watching Us: Rally Against Mass Surveillance being held in Washington, DC, on Saturday, Oct. 26, the 12th anniversary of the Patriot Act. Formed in June 2013, the StopWatching.us coalition is comprised of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies from across the political spectrum demanding that Congress investigate the full extent of the NSA's spying programs.

A diverse cast of media, academic, political and legal figures and truth-speakers unite in the video to sound the alarm over unconstitutional government surveillance. The full list, in order of appearance, includes:

Daniel Ellsberg, “Pentagon Papers” whistleblower
Phil Donahue, television talk-show pioneer
US Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-MI), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee
David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress
Maggie Gyllenhaal, actor and activist
Oliver Stone, director of The Untold History of the United States and Nixon
John Cusack, actor and activist
Wil Wheaton, actor and writer
Molly Crabapple, artist and writer
Jesselyn Radack, U.S. Department of Justice whistleblower and national security and human rights director at the Government Accountability Project
J. Kirk Wiebe, NSA whistleblower
Mark Klein, AT&T whistleblower who revealed the telecommunications company’s collaboration with the NSA in collecting customer data
Thomas Drake, NSA whistleblower
Cindy Cohn, Legal Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Dan Choi, LGBTQ activist and Iraq War veteran
Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School

Thomas Drake and Daniel Choi will also speak at the rally, which begins with a march from Columbus Circle to the Capitol Reflecting Pool at 12 p.m. EST on Saturday, Oct. 26. StopWatching.us will also deliver more than 500,000 signatures opposing the NSA’s mass surveillance to Congress. The coalition is calling for a full Congressional investigation of America’s surveillance programs, reform to federal surveillance law, and accountability from officials responsible for hiding this surveillance from lawmakers and the public.

Diebold Inc., a manufacturer of ATMs, bank security systems and voting machines, has agreed to pay a $48-million penalty to settle charges it bribed officials at government-owned banks in China, Russia and Indonesia in order to win their business.

The North Canton, Ohio, company was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department of spending about $1.8 million to send the foreign bank officials on vacations to the United States and Europe and provide entertainment and gifts in violation of a federal law that prohibits U.S. companies from bribing foreign government officials.

The company was also accused of giving annual cash gifts ranging from $100 to more than $600 to foreign bank executives.

Diebold falsely recorded the bribes in its books as training expenses, the SEC alleged.

"A bribe is a bribe, whether it’s a stack of cash or an all-expense-paid trip to Europe," said Scott W. Friestad, an associate director in the SEC’s enforcement division. "Public companies must be held accountable when they break the law to influence government officials with improper payments or gifts."

According to the SEC complaint filed in federal court in Washington, Diebold’s misconduct occurred from 2005 to 2010.

Among the destinations of the U.S. trips were the Grand Canyon, Napa Valley, Disneyland, and Universal Studios as well as Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Washington and Hawaii, the agency said.

Officials also were treated to European vacations, the SEC charged. For example, it said, eight officials at a government-owned bank in China enjoyed a two-week trip at Diebold’s expense that included stays in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Klagenfurt, Venice, Florence and Rome.

The Russian bribes were funneled through a distributor using phony service contracts to hide and falsely record the payments as legitimate business expenses, according to the SEC.

In addition to the fine, Diebold agreed to appoint an independent compliance monitor to prevent future violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Diebold shares were up 25 cents, or 1%, to $29.97 in morning trading Tuesday.